


Yet Another Zoom Call That Could've Been An Email

by issalilkiwi



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: M/M, Who's to Say, goddamn i can't believe i'm writing this, is charlie horny for carlisle or the Literal Town of Forks, is it a carlisle charlie cinderella story? my sources say yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:21:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/issalilkiwi/pseuds/issalilkiwi
Summary: have you seen 'a cinderella story'yeah, well, this ain't it
Relationships: Carlisle Cullen/Charlie Swan
Kudos: 13





	Yet Another Zoom Call That Could've Been An Email

**Author's Note:**

> my friends made me do this and they should be ashamed.

_Anon164: Yet another zoom call that could’ve been an email._

The notification popped up on Charlie’s laptop, tinny _ding!_ making him recoil. He read the message, sighing deeply before flipping the lid of his laptop shut. It had been a long day, and he couldn’t deal with any more messages. People didn’t seem to understand that being more connected was Actually Bad, that maybe during a global pandemic some people needed a bit more time _away_ from their computers, instead of being glued to them 24/7. 

It was bad enough that the force had made all public services in Forks—medical, fire, police, even _education_ for chrissakes—join an online network to ‘share resources quicker during these unprecedented times’. It was worse that people were Actually Using It. And, of course, there was the problem with anonymity. Whoever had set up the systems clearly hadn’t known what they were doing, and no one could work out how to turn off the ‘anonymous user’ feature. You could set up your own username, but there was no way to actually share that with the rest of the network. So basically, it was entirely useless. Sure, they’d managed to muddle on through, and chat history meant that once you worked out someone’s identity you tended to recognise them the next time you spoke. 

Except for one person. 

Anon164 was a complete mystery to Charlie. He—and that was about the only thing Charlie knew, that Anon164 was a He—had refused to share any more identifiers with Charlie. He was part of the public system, Charlie knew that; you had to upload government employee ID to even register on the system. But as to exactly _who_ Anon164 was? That was the part that Charlie didn’t know. But also, unfortunately, Charlie didn’t care. The world was ending. Now wasn’t the time for a mystery. He spoke with 164 as little as he needed to, in order to keep up the facade that he was a personable cop… at least, mildly personable. But he wasn’t in the business of making anonymous friends. Even though, somehow, that was what had happened. 

Over the past six months of lockdown, with even public servants barely allowed to leave their homes, Charlie and 164 had struck up a kind of wary friendship. One, an internet-anonymous cyber stalker who seemed more than pleased with the fact that the other didn’t know his identity. The other, usually just confused about how the computer worked in the first place. Every now and then, 164 would say something that would make Charlie question the nature of this quasi-friendship they had started to build up. A winky face here, a flirtatious comment there. Never enough for Charlie to shut it down entirely, but always enough to have him wondering exactly what 164 wanted from him, exactly why he was keeping his identity a secret.

The laptop _ding_ ed again, notification somehow breaking through Charlie’s clear desire for a closed laptop and the end of a work day. He sighed and opened the lid slowly. 

_Anon164: They don’t seem to care about wellbeing, do they? All of this could have been a few bullet points and a ‘thanks for caring’ but a video call ticks the boxes better._

_CharlieSwan: Hah, yeah._

A moment passed, and Charlie thought that perhaps his answer had been enough, that he could put his laptop away and be done for the day. 

_Anon164: Can I ask you something?_

“Nope,” he muttered, even as he typed a very polite, _What’s up?_

_Anon164: Do you ever feel like this town could be better? Could be_ more _?_

That made Charlie sit upright. Did he ever. Forks was his home. It was the only place he’d ever loved, even when he left for a short time to see the world (or at least, to see Arizona). He’d always come back to her. But god, did he think the town could be so much better than it was right now. What was 164 getting at?

_CharlieSwan: I guess._

There it was. Casual. Not too excited. Business-cop. Open-ended and ready for further explanation.

_Anon164: I thought so. You seem like the kind of guy who cares. This town…_

_Anon164: This town has so many good people, and they’re being left behind. There are so many problems we could fix if we just tried harder._

This was different. 164 had never talked like this. 

_Anon164: What would you say if I told you there was a way of fixing all the problems in Forks, in one bite_

_Anon164: So to speak_

Charlie tried to ignore the way his skin burned. If there was anything that got him passionate, that got him hot under the collar, it was thinking about how to help the town he loved so much. Income inequality, racism, bullying… if there was a way he could fix that, make it a town everyone could be proud of again… He’d do anything.

_CharlieSwan: Who are you?_

A pause. A longer pause than Charlie wanted.

_Anon164: Just a guy who knows that the way to a man’s heart is through fixing the town he loves…_

_Anon164: You're the man with the heart_

_ Anon164: And Forks _

_ Anon164: Forks is the town. _


End file.
